J. Balvin opens up on his battle with depression

Los Angeles, Nov 19 : Latin Grammy-winning singer J.Balvin has given an insight into his battle with depression and anxiety.

The singer, who has belted out hits such as "Mi gente", "X" and "Bum bum tam tam" among many others, opened up on the subject in a chat on the Amazon Music podcast titled "En La Salaon", reports etonline.com.

In the conversation, he shared that there was a point in his life where he "didnt want to live"."I was just crying for no reason.Didnt want to wake up.Didnt want to eat, didnt even want to live," he said.Balvin told the show host that the period of depression that led to his diagnosis happened seven years ago, adding that he has suffered from anxiety and depression since childhood.

"You lose hope and you feel strange at every place you go.You feel like you are outside of your body.Ive been shaking since I was a kid, and Ive always had it, but I just didnt know it was anxiety," he said.

The podcast host added that in their culture "its so hard to ask for help".Balvin said that the last thing he wanted to do was seek help because he didnt want to think he "was crazy".

"I remember that I was in bed for, like, five days and I was just waiting to die.I dont have the balls to kill myself but I will just wait.Of course, my whole family was devastated because at the time I wasnt as known as I am right now.At the time, I quit my career and I love music," he added.Balvin finally went to see a doctor and started his treatment for depression.

"Since then, I have been medicated and I dont feel bad about it," he said.He shared that he recently had an episode after he felt well amid quarantine and decided to stop taking his medication without informing his doctor.

The singer then started having anxiety and worrying about Covid-19.He was eventually contracted and has since recovered.